Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890, 1887-05-07
GREAT FALLS TRIBUNE.
SATURDAY, MAY I, 1887.
MONTANA ADVANCING.
Railroad Building on a Large Scale
Details of the New En-
terprise. e


Details of the New En-
terprise.
This is the great railroad year of Mon
tana. Throughout the territory railroad
builders are hard at work, connecting
mining camps with cities and opening up
vast grazing and agricultural lands, as
well as providing new routes to the great
eastern markets. ,
The most important enterprise is the ex-
tension of the Manitoba railroad from Mi
not. Dakota, to the city of Great Falls,
Montana. Rapid progress is being made
with the construction of this. line which
will be about SGT miles long and will be
completed in September. This railroad
will place Great Falls in direct communi-
cation with st. Paul and Duluth and with
all the railroads ard navigation connected
with these cities. The line viii open up
for settlement grazing and arabic lands OF
vast extent in the northern regions OF Da-
kota and Montana. It will also render
available the great water power at this
young city on the Missouri.
THE MONTANA CENTRAL.
Next in importance to this trunk line is
the Montana Central railroad which is to
connect Great Falls with Butte by way of
Helena. This railroad is already graded
from Great Falls to Helena or miles, and
will be in operation to that city as soon as
the rails arrive here in the fall by the
Manitoba line. The Montana Central
passes through broad plains, rich grazing
lands and picturesque canyons on its way
to Helena and Butte. 1t will afford access
to the coal mines at Sand Coulee near
Great Falls, and cause the establishment
here of smelters for reducing the rich
ores of the mineral regions which it will
traverse. The section from Helena to
Butte CD niles is now being built. It
will pass through Jefferson and Wickes,
opening up a continuous ore belt through
the famous Highora and Boulder creek
regions. The Wickes tunnel On this line
will be 5000 feet long. Col. Broadwater,
of Helena, is president of the company,
and Col. j. Il. Dodge, who has been con-
nected with many other large enterprises,
is chief engineer. In concert with the
above railroad, two other short lines
will be completed this year, as both are
now ready for the steel rails. The first Of
these will connect Helena with Ri1nini Us
niles. BY way of Terrible creek. The
other will connect Helena with Marysville
Us niles, which is adjacent to the great
Drum Lummon gold and silver mine,
which yields about S2,OG0,e0o annually.
The a~bove-named lines are allied. Great
Falls will be their base of supply in Mon
tana. andthey will be constructed with the
view of developing the coal mines and
water power at this point on the Missouri.
NORTHERN PACIFIC ALLIES.
Companies acting in the interest of the
Northern Pacific railroad are also dong
considerable railroad building in Montana
this year. The lines recently completed,
in progress Or projected are as follows:
From Helena to Rimini lis niles. This
line, which has been completed, gives &C
cess to the group of silver mines in both
the Red and Lee mountains
From Helena to Marysyille Us niles.
This road is under construction and Will
be built this year. It is intended to con-
meet ths Northern Pacific system with the
silver mines near Marysyille.
The Helena, Gallatin and National Park
railroad company has also been incorpora-
ted to build a railroad from some point in
the Gallatin valley to the Madison, where
it will connect with the Boulder AND Madi-
son road. It will open up a section of the.
country rich in agricultural and mineral
resources.
From Helena to Jefferson and Wickes
(25 miles,. This line which has also been
completed connects Helena with the re
duction works at Wickes, where $750,000
are invested in shelters for the production
OF silver and lead bullion.
The above line to Jefferson will have two
branches. The first will extend by way
OF the Boulder valley to Red Bluff and Vir-
ginia City, in Madison county, 10 develop
mineral agricultural and grazing regions.
This line which will be 145 miles from
Helena has been located and will be com-
pleted to Boulder City this year.
The other branch from Jefferson will
follow the Boulder to the Kit Carson mine,
which is Sc miles from Helena. This road,
which is partly completed, opens up for
development an almost continuous miner
al belt of galena and silver ores. The
company has recently increased its capital
stock a million dollars, and may push the
line right on to Butte.
A line from livingston to Coke valley
-four miles, will be completed in about
two weeks.
The Billings, Rocky Fork and Cooke
City railroad has been located. It will
connect Billings with the Rock creek coal
fields, Cooke City and several mineral dis
tricts north of the Yellowstone.
The Drummond and PhilIipsburg, a
hort mountain railroad, will be completed
a bout 60 days hence.
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